


A New Order

by homosexualbyers



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Original Trilogy, Star Wars: Jedi: Fallen Order (Video Game), Star Wars: Rebels, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Gay, M/M, Post-RotJ, Post-Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, Rebuilding the Jedi Order, The New Republic - Freeform, maybe eventually going to include the sequels characters too
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-16
Updated: 2020-06-16
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:34:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,866
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24756352
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/homosexualbyers/pseuds/homosexualbyers
Summary: Darth Vader and the Emperor defeated, the Galactic Civil War is nearing its end. Luke Skywalker feels lost, searching for a new purpose in the galaxy with the weight of his father's sacrifice still hanging over him.  Luke finds himself alongside the once lost Jedi Knight Ezra Bridger and together they must decide, is the Jedi Order worth rebuilding?
Relationships: Ezra Bridger/Luke Skywalker, Luke Skywalker & Ezra Bridger & Ahsoka Tano & Cal Kestis
Kudos: 26





	A New Order

The beautiful tall funghi of Felucia’s jungle kept the uncomfortable humidity packed tight around the two men. Luke Skywalker wipes the sweat from his forehead and shields the sun from his eyes as he scans the cliff edge, it commences at a sharp triangular summit supporting a grand silver building, the Imperial sygnia on the side faded. Luke felt through the Force the negative energy flowing from the place, anxiety and fear swelling together growing to the point of being ready to burst. The cliff edge was smooth, no grip holds or vines of any kind visible, Luke understood why the villagers suggested they bring grappling hooks. 

“This is Spectre 6, are you in position?” Ezra spoke into his commlink. 

“Copy Spectre 6, we’re standing by. Waiting for your mark.” Wedge responds. 

The two Jedi share a nod at each other, mutually patting each other on the back via the bridge between their minds. They stepped out from the shrubbery, their hands hovering over their lightsabers.

The mission was simple. Infiltrate the Imperial slave camp and free the Felucians inside, capture the Imperial forces or exterminate them if need be. The main entrance to the camp on the other side of the cliff was too heavily fortified, the Empire had concentrated most of their firepower on the front of the camp being ignorant enough to believe the rear was safe due to the cliff face being too sharp a drop for anyone to scale, only manning the back wall with a turret and a handful of men. Which left them wide open for an attack from the behind. Luke and Ezra were to scale the cliff edge whilst Wedge and his squadron made their first attack run on the main entrance. In the panic Luke and Ezra sneak inside, free the prisoners and make their way through the base in time for Wedge’s second attack with transports in tow to airlift the prisoners out of there and drop the rest of their troopers. From there it would be a mad scramble for control of the base. 

Luke had done this mission over and over since the battle of Endor. Seeking out the remnants of the Empire and destroying them, freeing the galaxy from their grip being the only thing left for a Jedi to do in a world where the dark side was defeated. Leia is off rebuilding the Republic, healing the wounds left behind by the Empire ‘to ensure peace and freedom in the galaxy for generations to come’ as she said. Han was Han, going back to his old ways mostly but he always made it home eventually and the two of them were expecting their first child. Luke was alone, feeling the weight of his father’s death, doing the only thing he feels he can do, fighting the Empire. As far as Luke could see, there was no future for him or the Jedi past this war. 

That was until he rescued Ezra Bridger. 

Luke remembers the way Ezra came into his life well. He’d been at the New Republic headquarters on Chandrila when he’d overheard his sister on a holo call discussing an Imperial transport travelling from the Spire on Stygeon Prime carrying ‘a prisoner of importance’. Upon hearing this Luke was stopped in his tracks, he felt a tremor of light in the Force, something trying to pull him in. Luke volunteered himself immediately. This was met with humour by Leia who assumed this kind of mission was below Luke, they usually just sent in a Republic special forces trooper or two for this sort of thing but Luke insisted he would go alone, he had a feeling this would lead him somewhere. 

In an hour Luke was on a stolen Imperial shuttle on his way to intercept the transport. Once onboard he snuck his way through the ship past the stormtroopers with a mere wave of his hand until he found Ezra chained in a cell, pale white and just skin and bone, his gaunt face covered by an unruly beard. Luke was unsure if he would be able to stand. But that didn’t stop Ezra from swinging at him as soon as his hands were free. 

“I’m a friend. I’m with the New Republic, I’m here to rescue you.” Luke had said, after swiftly avoiding his punch. 

Ezra looked Luke over, still apprehensive of him. He’d heard the guards talk about the war from his cell back at the Spire and it frustrated him to hear that Hera, Sabine and Zeb were still fighting outside his four walls, and he was unable to help. He’d quickly lost count of the days stuck in his cell, it felt like centuries had passed before he heard good news; the whispers of the victory at Endor and the fall of the Emperor and Darth Vader by the hand of a Jedi Knight. This man that stood in front of him was simply a boy, not a heroic soldier like he envisioned. 

“I’m Luke Skywalker, you can trust me. ” Luke said.

“You’re Luke Skywalker?” Ezra asked, not believing him. 

Luke sighed and arched his eyebrow. He was still getting used to the weight his name carried for people now. This legend status would take some living up to. 

“Yes. Can we escape now and ask questions later?” Luke snapped at him. 

“Works for me, Luke Skywalker.” Ezra huffed. 

He led the way out of his own cell and down the hall. Luke quickly ran ahead, keeping on his rescuer role.

“So what’s your name?” Luke had asked as they ran. 

“What happened to escape now questions later?” Ezra had said. 

“I prefer to know who I’m rescuing.” Luke said. He’d been searching for some reason why the Force called him to this mission. 

“Jabba the Hutt.” Ezra deadpanned.

“That’s funny. I’m from Tatooine and I’m pretty sure my sister killed that big ugly slug.” Luke said. 

They stopped to look at each other once again. Luke had questioned himself what the man had to hide and had reached out to the Force for some answer but came back with nothing. Ezra wasn’t going to give in easily.

“You don’t trust me much, do you?” Luke asked.

“What gave you that impression?” 

“A feeling.” He said. 

A stormtrooper marched around the corner and opened fire on them. Luke ignited his lightsaber a millisecond later and wooshed the bolts back at him, throwing the trooper to the ground dead.

“Great, now they know we’re here.” Luke sighed. 

“You are Luke Skywalker!” Ezra yelped, pointing at the humming green blade. 

Luke chuckled and fumbled with his lightsaber hilt nervously. “Yeah, I am. And you are?” He stammers. 

“Ezra Bridger.” He said quietly, still looking at the blade. When he finally looks up at Luke again, his eyes are sparkling. 

“You’re Ezra Bridger? You were there for the start of the Rebellion. You’re a war hero.” Luke said. He deactivated his lightsaber and stepped towards Ezra, he’d heard so many stories about him from Leia and General Hera Syndulla, he was the kind of hero many in the Rebellion aspired to be, the kind of hero Luke himself aspired to be. Hell, Luke had heard of the Ghost crew's fight against the Empire ever since he was a boy on Tatooine, he remembers the transmission from Lothal and the way Ezra’s words had spoken to Luke’s heart, giving him hope for a better life. Luke felt a presence in the Force from Ezra, similar to the warmth he got from Leia but powerful like his father was. He felt Ezra reaching out too, ready to connect with him through the Force, he recognised that Ezra felt it too.

“You’re a Jedi.” Luke said breathlessly. He never thought he’d find another one, someone else who could connect with Force like he and Leia could, like his father had been able to. The possibilities this could mean for the future spark a light within Luke, this is why the Force brought him here. 

The two of them smiled brightly at each other, unable to believe there is another Jedi standing before them. They reached closer to each other with their minds, almost touching. 

Then Ezra’s smile dropped. He looked down, the energy around him shifted, becoming sad and mournful. Luke got the sense he’d just remembered something or someone. The two retract from each other. 

Ezra stretched his shoulders and put the thought into the back of his mind. He closed his eyes and reached out with his hand. For a few seconds nothing happened, then a tremor in the Force started to build before the fallen troopers blaster flew into Ezra’s hand. He smirked and his Force energy sparked alive again, playful and ready to pounce.

“Well, Luke Skywalker, what do you say we give these Imps an idea of what two Jedi are made of?” He said. 

They’d taken the whole transport with them back to base that day, albeit a few repairs were needed afterwards. Ezra quickly fell into his role as Luke’s partner and the two rarely spent a day apart in the months that followed. The two Jedi were constantly learning from each other, their shared knowledge strengthening their individual power. Luke liked having someone he could trust, understood the ways of the Force as he did and who he knew would be there for him to deflect the blaster bolts away from his back. 

Ezra focused his scanner on the perimeter wall of the camp, Luke noticed his tongue poking out between his lips the way it always did when he was concentrating. 

“I’m getting maybe two troopers on patrol, a third manning a turret. Should be easy as pie.” Ezra says. 

He clasps the scanners back onto his belt and ties his long, tangled and sweaty black hair into a bun. Since his rescue Ezra had grown into a hefty build and groomed his beard back to reveal more of his youthful face. 

Ezra catches Luke staring and smirks. “You good?’ He asks. 

“Yeah.” Luke nods, blushing. Luke thought he sometimes enjoyed Ezra’s companionship too much, to a level that would become unprofessional. 

Ezra chuckles softly. “Give them hell, Wedge.” He says into the commlink. 

“My pleasure.” 

As laser cannon fire sounds off in the distance Luke and Ezra ignite their lightsabers in unison and with a push of the Force from each of them they start to scale the cliff. 

Red bolts of energy wizz over their heads. Luke throws a bolt back, toppling a screaming trooper down the cliff past them. The two Jedi zone in on the turret as it lurches into position to take its first shot. They swerve apart as it fires it’s first explosive round, sending cliff debris flying everywhere. 

“Luke, my dear, would you?” Ezra says, pointing at the turret with his blade and kicking off the cliff edge. 

Luke rolls his eyes and Force pushes Ezra towards the gun, landing him on the barrel. Ezra tugs the trooper out of his seat and slices him across the chest, discarding him roughly to the side right into another trooper, the two fall over the edge together. He pushes off the turret with a spin, cutting the gun barrel in half in the process and lands on the platform as Luke reaches the top and propels himself forward, swinging his lightsaber down on the final troopers head as he lands. Quick work just as they thought. 

They disignite their sabers and advance on the door which Luke attempts to open at the terminal but fails. He groans and glares at Ezra.

“I told you we should’ve brought Artoo.” He says. 

“Nonsense. I’ve got it!’ Ezra tells him. He slides a picklock out of a hidden compartment in his boot and starts to work on opening the door.

“Where did you learn to do that?” Luke tuts. 

“You pick up many useful skills as a lothrat.” Ezra replies, smiling smugly as the door slides open.

Luke sighs and shakes his head at his companion as he leads the way into the compound. 

“You never cease to surprise me what a sly criminal you are, Bridger.” He sighs. 

“But that’s why you like me, isn’t it?” Ezra says, barging his shoulder into Luke’s. 

“You are useful to have around, I'll give you that.” 

Ezra’s approach to missions was riskier than Luke would like, he wasn’t afraid to bend the rules a little and be rougher with their enemies than Luke is. He reminded Luke of Han in many ways, for their shared backgrounds in smuggling and thievery as street orphans when they were young but also in their huge egos and habit to run into things without really thinking them through. It made Ezra an unpredictable partner but a strong fighter in the toughest of situations, Luke was proud to have him by his side. 

They come to an intersection of corridors and stop huddled close to the wall. Luke closes his eyes and tries to sooth his mind of all distractions as he tries to remember the map of the compound he’d studied back on the ship. It was hard to tell the endless cold Imperial hallways apart, he’d been in so many different facilities across the galaxy at this point but they all looked the same. He thinks, hopes, he remembers where to go from here. 

“The cells should be down the right corridor.” Luke says after a moment. 

“Okay…” Ezra says, skeptical. 

Ezra takes his lightsaber hilt off his belt, holding the part blaster, part blade contraption ready to fire as he inches over to peer around the corner. Two stormtroopers stand guard in front of a hulking blast door. Ezra smirks at Luke, this mission was shaping up to be too easy. He spins around the corner and shoots both troopers dead. 

Luke shakes his head and launches himself behind Ezra to deflect the fire from the three stormtroopers approaching from the left corridor. He dashes forward, slices the head trooper's blaster in half and takes down the three of them in two quick strikes. 

“If you thought with your head instead of your blaster, you would’ve seen them coming.” He says.

“That’s what I have you watching my back for.” Ezra says, twirling his lightsaber in his hand. 

Surprisingly, the door to the cells had been left unlocked. The room beyond is dimly lit by a flicking orange overhead light, a tall ghostly black cage stands beneath it. Inside around 15 malnourished Felucian slaves shiver close together. 

Luke deactivates his lightsaber and steps towards the cell, smiling with the poster boy esque perfect smile he had. 

“You’re safe now, the Republic is here to rescue you.” Luke says softly. 

There are murmurs of discontent between the Felucians. The mother of one particularly frail little boy scowls at them and shields her son out of sight. Luke shrank back from her gaze, they were too scared. Ezra could feel their fear, they’d gone without hope for so long that they no longer believed it existed, he knew the feeling. Little did they know that the very embodiment of hope stood right there in front of them. 

“He’s Luke Skywalker. He’s going to get you out of here, come on!” Ezra says, slicing the lock on the cage with a flourish and throwing the door open. 

Immediately excitement spread throughout the Felucians and they sprang to their feet and out of the cell, the children charging forward to hug the two Jedi around their waists. Ezra smirked at Luke, cocking his eyebrow at Luke’s returning glare. 

Then Luke relaxes and hugs the Felucian children tightly back, his eyes crinkle up as he smiles down at them. Ezra always noticed him light up when around children. 

“Listen, we have to get you out of here. Stay close to me and my friend, Ezra here and we’ll lead you to safety.” Luke says, mainly addressing the adults. 

Then Luke gently lifts up the chin of the young frail boy he had noticed before, the boy was still clearly shaken and doubtful of their hope of escape. 

“Fear not, little one,” Luke says, softly enough that only the children and Ezra can hear him. “The Empire has fallen, you’re free now.” 

Luke leads the group from the prison, Ezra taking up the rear. They keep the civilians tightly packed and moving quickly through the long corridors. As they get close to the front of the prison they cross officers and other Imperial officials who are quick to surrender at the flash of a lightsaber. 

“Wedge, we’re almost out. Start your second attack.” Ezra says into his commlink. 

“Roger that, sir.” 

A few moments past then explosions rock the building to whimpers from the terrified Felucians. Luke hushes them and reassures them that it's friends. 

As they grow closer to the front door, the metal walls around them now vibrating with the force of the chaos outside, Luke starts to feel something. A nagging presence in the back of his mind, something hovering above them, watching and waiting. He recognises it, but can’t quite place what it is. 

He beckons Ezra to his side and together they open the blast door, jump out into the open air and throwing a line of stormtroopers down into the concrete. Surrounding them is a large perimeter fence topped with a laser wire, there’s a large steel gate in front of them manned on either side by guard towers mounted with cannons. Above them a handful of TIE fighters take on a squadron of X-Wings in an explosive dogfight. Luke watches closely as the guard tower cannons rocket bolts after their ships. 

“Wedge, those cannons…” Luke says. 

“Our transports won’t be able to land if they aren’t destroyed.” Wedge says, panting over the background blaster fire. 

Luke sighs and looks back at the Imperial flag hanging on the building behind him. The presence he can feel is profoundly dark, he hadn’t felt anything that powerfully evil since that day on the Death Star above the forest moon of Endor. 

Ezra zooms in on the tower through his scanner, tongue sticking out once again. 

“Yep, I can take it down.” He says. 

Luke nods slowly. “Okay, get it done fast. I’m going back inside, there’s something I need to check out.” He says. 

“Wait, what are you talking about? Luke, that’s not the plan.” Ezra says, waving his arms at his partner. 

“Ezra, there’s something else at play here. You can sense it too.” Luke says, faking calmness. 

Ezra looks at him, concern in his eyes and hanging in the energy around him. He nods after a moment. 

“I’ll lock the Felucians behind the blast door with me. You can use one of your lothrat tricks to unlock it again once the transports are here.” Luke smiles. 

“Keep your commlink on.” 

Luke nods, closing the blast door behind him. Ezra is a good fighter, he had an innate ability to surprise his enemies and come out on top during battle, he’d be fine Luke told himself. 

“Stay here, my friend will come get you once it’s safe.” Luke tells a Felucian man. 

The man stands tall, puffs out his chest and thumps his fist over his heart, as if to reassure Luke that he and his people will remain strong.

Luke smiles and kindly squeezes the man's shoulder. 

Luke sets off back down the corridor after giving a few of the children reassuring hugs, he locks another door, sealing the civilians away safely from whatever danger he was on his way into. As Luke walked he kept a hand gripped onto his lightsaber hilt, ready for anything. Ascending up to the buildings second level in a turbo lift, Luke tries to find his focus, trying to clear all his thoughts of his father and the Emperor and block out the battle raging on outside. He tried to remember what Ben had taught him, _trust in the Force._

Luke registered the strangeness of a lack of Imperial security as he got closer to the command center, where he felt the dark presence coming from. This became even stranger when the center turned out to be completely deserted, he just tried to brush it off as the Imperials superiors making one last dash for an evacuation yet he couldn’t help but think it was too easy. Luke runs across the room to the raised observation deck and looks through the window to see Ezra already cutting through stormtroopers on the tower across the courtyard. He smiles at the flash of the green blade and hurriedly starts to try hack into the Imperial database on one of the terminals. 

Then it feels it, the dark presence breathing down his neck. Luke spins around, ignites his lightsaber and points it towards a black figure standing in the shadows, illuminating a ghastly grey man’s face. 

“Jedi have always been ones to walk into a trap. It’s that mistaken heroic pride that you all have.” The man chuckles lightly, his voice having an unstable grumble to it. 

“Who are you?” Luke spat back at him. 

There’s an explosion outside and out of the corner of his eye Luke sees the guard towers cannons now enveloped in flames. 

“I am Lord Vader’s last apprentice, his spirit lives on through me.” The man snarls, he whips out a lightsaber and upon ignition the red glow illuminates his bright yellow eyes. He makes his first angered swing at Luke which Luke sees coming and lifts his own saber to block with ease, the two blades clashing and pressing against each other. 

“Well, I defeated Darth Vader and the Emperor so I’ll make a good job of defeating you too.” Luke says, a cocky smirk playing on his lips. 

“You are mistaken, a mere boy could not defeat the power of the Sith.” The man growls. 

He pulls back and takes another swing at Luke which Luke swiftly dodges and dashes backwards out of his reach. Luke could feel the anger bubbling from within his opponent, not refined like his master’s was. Perhaps the so-called Sith had never got the chance to complete his training. 

The man makes several more attempted slashes at Luke, each more angry and more foolish than the last which the young Jedi expertly blocks every time, they walk circles around the observation deck. 

“Luke, we’ve got all the Felucians on the transports.” Ezra says over the comm. 

Luke ducks under one of his opponents swings, using the opportunity to get behind him, push him with the Force and make a quick stab at the side of his torso but he only stumbles then regains his balance. The two of them clash blades once more, pushing against each other Luke glares into his eyes through the mixing green and red light. He couldn’t believe that just when he thought the Dark Side was gone another Sith had risen out of nowhere, he shamed himself for being so arrogant. 

“I’ve heard many stories of you, Luke Skywalker. What a disappointment, I expected more than just a boy.” The Sith says, through ragged yellow teeth. 

“Oh no... I’ve got a Star Destroyer in-coming. I’ve lost too many men, I can’t defend the transports against that.” Wedge groans. 

The Sith smiles at the wide eyed shock that spreads across Luke’s face. And sure enough, the Felucia sun is then blocked from view, plunging the compound into the shadow of a dreaded grey triangular shape creeping over them. 

“Karabast! Luke, what’s our action?” Ezra says. 

The Sith laughs. “You underestimate the resilience of the Empire.” He says, taking the chance to swing four times down on Luke’s block, much stronger in Luke’s being distracted by marvelling at the sudden surprise reinforcements and almost breaking the Jedi’s defense.

Luke uses a push of the Force to flip backwards through the air and out of the Sith’s reach. He shakes himself. _Action, action, action?_ They’d severely underestimated this mission, bringing no cruisers with them. 

“Get the transports out of here now!” He shouts into his comm. 

“On it.” 

Wedge’s X-Wing speedily leads two transports off into the air, narrowly making it around the edge of the Star Destroyer with TIEs screeching tightly behind them. 

“You failed!” The Sith yells, charging at him with his lightsaber over his head. 

Luke dives out of the way and leaps to the window, shattering it with his lightsaber on impact and vaulting through the frame, falling with the broken glass down to the concrete below. He tries to steady himself with the Force but manages to land painfully on his knees. Luke stops for a moment, watches the shards of glass land around him, breathing in the smoke in the air, he asks himself why he allowed himself to be so careless? 

Someone grabs his arm and pulls him to his feet and he’s about to swing his lightsaber in what would be a fatal revenge move but sees it’s a soot covered Ezra. 

“You’re late. Our ride left without us.” He says.

Ezra is bleeding from a cut near his hairline, several strands of his black locks have come loose over his face, sitting in the blood and more blood soaks his undershirt, whether that was his or not was hard to tell. Luke guessed that’s what he got for leaving him on his own. Ezra held his activated lightsaber in one hand and still gripped Luke’s arm in the other. 

“I told you to leave.” Luke wheezes. He hadn’t broken anything but his legs would be bruised massively. 

“You’re not my commanding officer.” 

Luke shrugs his arm out of Ezra’s grip and nods at the gate, they start to run for it, deflecting blaster bolts as they went. Together, they deactivate their lightsabers and push at the steel gate with both hands, it rips in half down the middle under their combined pressure, curling apart.

Out back on natural Felucia dirt, they’re flanked by two sudden drops to the jungle below on either side of them with only one real path to go. Down that path come three TIE fighters, heading right for them. The two of them come to an abrupt halt and ignite their sabers, looking to each other for suggestions. Luke remembers the trick they did earlier with the cannon and reaches out with his hand out to Ezra to throw him but before he can two more TIEs descend on them from their left and right. It’d be certain death to try any kind of attack with that many guns on them. They turn around back to the compound but three more TIEs approach from there too. They were well and truly boxed in. 

“On me, Ezra.” Luke says. 

The two Jedi move to stand back to back with their lightsabers extended at the ready, they observe the bad odds against them. Ezra squints at the compound gate as the Sith walks through its crumpled remains, spinning his now two bladed lightsaber alongside him. Luke feels the alarm raise in Ezra’s mind. Luke and Ezra turn on him, striking up their Force connection, ready for the fight. The two of them had dueled each other in training but they’d never fought a lightsaber wielder together before, if they were to come out on top in this fight they’d have to give all their trust to each other.

“Any chance for a pick up, Wedge?” Ezra asks the comm. 

“I’m sorry. We had too many fighters on us, we had to make the jump into hyperspace immediately.” Wedge sorrowfully responds. 

Ezra sighs and stretches out his shoulders, winching a little when he moves his right. 

“It’s okay, Wedge. You did your job. May the Force be with you.” Luke says, trying to be chipper for his friend.

“You too, Luke.” 

“More like may the Force be with _us_.” Ezra grunts. 

The Jedi seemed to be well and truly doomed but then… _BOOM!_ The three TIEs in front of them blow out of the sky and a long thin transport, completely unlike any of theirs, glides in to hover between them and the Sith, creating a whirlwind of dust and stone. The boarding ramp opens and a ginger man stumbles out, extending his hand out to them. The remaining TIEs start to rain fire down on the ship.  
  


“Jump on.” He shouts over the combined ruckus of engines and the fizzle of weapon fire. 

Ezra and Luke look at each other, unsure. 

The man produces a lightsaber from underneath his poncho. 

“Trust me, we’re on the same side.” He says. 

Not having much else of a choice, Luke and Ezra jump onto the ramp and run inside the ship. The man runs past them immediately to the cockpit.

“Greez, punch it!” He yells. 

“You don’t have to tell me twice, kid.” The pilot says. 

Luke and Ezra watch through the cockpit windows as the ship shoots forward through the TIE fighters and shifts upwards to pass the Destroyer. Once clear of the planet the stars stretch past them into the blue hue of the hyperspace lane. 

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> this is my first star wars fic so pls be kind <3 feedback in the comments and kudos will be really appreciated. 
> 
> thank you for reading! I hope you liked it. i'll hopefully have chapter 2 up soon 
> 
> my star wars twitter is @ezraiovebot


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